Merging

Merging allows you to connect and merge leads that are for the same customer(s). Anytime a customer submits multiple leads, or leads get created by different salespeople, you'll have duplicates that should get merged.

Auto-Merge

Leads automatically merge when 2 of the following conditions are met:

  • Phone numbers match (can't be blank)
  • Emails match
  • Names match (requires a similarity between names of 85% using a standard algorithm)

A lead will never automatically merge if the incoming lead and existing lead are both from a credit application.

Leads will only automerge with existing leads if the existing lead was created less than 365 days ago and if the lead has had activity in the last 120 days.

Phone Number Merging

In some situations the system will automerge if only a phone number is received on a lead. This can be handy if a customer sends a text or makes a phone call and the only information we have about the lead is the phone number. If the incoming lead has the same phone number as an existing lead, doesn't have an email address, and either doesn't have a name or has a name of (Unknown, Name, Empty, Blank, or Null), then the lead will automerge.

Co-Customer Merging

When determining whether an existing lead is a possible match for an inbound lead, we also check the co-customer on the existing lead. If the co-customer's name is a closer match to the inbound lead's name than the primary customer's name on the lead is, we will instead compare the phone and email information on the co-customer to determine if there's a possible duplicate. At this point, the primary customer's information is entirely ignored and not used to determine if a merge should occur.

Multiple Lots

If you have multiple lots, there are some additional automated routing functionalities to help prevent leads from going to two lots and getting connected with multiple salespeople.

Inbound Leads

If a lead is received, the Auto Merge capabilities detailed above will search for leads on all lots.

  • If a match is found, then the received lead will automatically merge cross lot with the existing lead and/or assigned to the same user as the existing lead.
  • If a match is not found, then the lead is automatically routed to the lot where the vehicle is located at the time the lead is received.

Credit Apps

With credit apps, there are a few rules that dictate whether there are changes in the routing process:

  • If a merge candidate exists and does not have a credit app associated, the lead will be merged.
  • If a merge candidate exists and does have a credit app associated, the lead will not be merged.

Regardless of the above circumstance, if a merge candidate exists on another lot then the new lead and the credit app will be routed or merged to the lot where the merge candidate exists.

Possible Duplicates

Any possible duplicates are shown on the lead to help avoid two salespeople working the same customer. Possible Duplicates will be found if any 2 of the following are true.

  • Phone numbers match (can't be blank)
  • Emails match
  • Names match (requires a similarity between names of 85% using a standard algorithm)
  • Vehicles match (same vehicle added on both leads)

When determining possible duplicates, we only look at leads that have had activity in the last 45 days.

Manually Merging

You can always manually merge a lead with any other lead by clicking the Merge Lead link in the lead.

In the merging dialog, you can search for and select another lead to merge with. At the bottom, you can choose the "master" lead to merge. In the event of both leads having information in a given field (such as name, source, or status), the master's information will be used.